Cutting Toools (Laser or Cricut)

[HaloJones]

Ok so some advice please:

I am considering buying a cutting machine to do intricate lace / filigree work, just wondered what peoples experience is?

A laser looks very cool & would cut / score / engrave

Something like this <link>

But the downside is the cost, smell, space, ventilation

Then I came across the Cricut Maker <link>

Which is a lot cheaper, but will it do the job, I can't seem to find many reviews on using leather with it.

I am a hobbyist so this is not for mass production, my knife work is poor as is my drawing / tracing so this would help greatly, any comments welcome.

 

 

 

[bikermutt07]

It doesn't look like the circuit cutter is up to the task (think sewing machine, it takes a powerful sewing machine to do leather). And as you said, the laser is too expensive.

So, let's take a look at less money and improving what you have to work with.

What kind of knives are you using? Are they sharp? When I say sharp, I mean sharp. You will need to be able to maintain these edges.

What kind of leather work are you wanting to do and with what types of leather?

I'm not asking these questions to overwhelm or discourage you. I ask them to better help you.

I am a carpenter by trade and have used a razor knife my entire career. All of my steady handedness of all those years didn't exactly translate straight to leather work. There was a learning curve that I found frustrating.

Like the leather dragging away from my square at the end of a cut, producing a swoop on my straight line.

There are techniques to avoid this from happening, but in the beginning I didn't know about them.

[TomG]

I've cut a couple of things with a vinyl cutter. 

 

1) You're limited to thin leather.. about 3oz max.

2) You cut very slowly

3) You need to make multiple passes

4) Leather need to be securely attached to a carrier sheet.

5) Blade needs to be extended to slightly longer than the thickness of the leather

Here's a link to my video of the cut.

 

[HaloJones]

On ‎28‎/‎01‎/‎2018 at 1:22 PM, bikermutt07 said:

It doesn't look like the circuit cutter is up to the task (think sewing machine, it takes a powerful sewing machine to do leather). And as you said, the laser is too expensive.

So, let's take a look at less money and improving what you have to work with.

What kind of knives are you using? Are they sharp? When I say sharp, I mean sharp. You will need to be able to maintain these edges.

What kind of leather work are you wanting to do and with what types of leather?

I'm not asking these questions to overwhelm or discourage you. I ask them to better help you.

I am a carpenter by trade and have used a razor knife my entire career. All of my steady handedness of all those years didn't exactly translate straight to leather work. There was a learning curve that I found frustrating.

Like the leather dragging away from my square at the end of a cut, producing a swoop on my straight line.

There are techniques to avoid this from happening, but in the beginning I didn't know about them.

Thanks for the response,

Are my blades sharp enough? probably not, sharpening is a skill I need to improve

I mostly just lightweight veg tan & suede but was wanting to do some filigree work which my hand cutting skill is not up to yet

 

 

[bikermutt07]

That will take some practice. There are some fillegree punches out there. Maybe those could help?

[koreric75]

I agree with bikermutt overall, don't give up on the head knife, take time to keep your edges maintained and practice, practice, practice!  That said, i"ve also used the cricut, i have a cricut explore air2 (about $100 cheaper than the maker) and have cut out up to 4/5 oz with a deep cut blade and multiple passes.  There are some tricks to doing this like anything else that i've had to learn over time.  I posted a video on youtube of the cricut cutting out the golfball and tee holders i made recently.  I've also gotten decent at inkscape in order to get the files into the format i want, this way i can resize, customize etc...the think in the "A" carriage is the scoring stylus, it will do a decent job of scoring a pattern or whatever that you can go back over with the swivel and tooling after.  Here's the link to my gallery with the finished product.  The blue tape did peel off some of the top layer of this economy vegtan, but fortunately it was wrapped around the back and after tooling and finishing didn't show.  

 

 

Edited January 30, 2018 by koreric75

[koreric75]

On 1/28/2018 at 8:35 AM, TomG said:

I've cut a couple of things with a vinyl cutter. 

 

1) You're limited to thin leather.. about 3oz max.

2) You cut very slowly

3) You need to make multiple passes

4) Leather need to be securely attached to a carrier sheet.

5) Blade needs to be extended to slightly longer than the thickness of the leather

Here's a link to my video of the cut.

 

Hey TomG, 
What kind of cutter are you using?  Did you have a problem with the blue tape peeling of the leather at all?  I've used scotch tape and no problems.  Since my last video i've started using thing plastic sheets i bought for mold making, i spray one side down with repositioning adhesive then stick my leather to that and then stick that to the mat.  It seems to help having a little more solid backing for cutting and i don't trash the cricut mats with the flesh from the leather.

[LatigoAmigo]

Like HaloJones, I too am a hobbyist and "my knife work is poor as is my drawing / tracing" so I have to depend on software, in this case Adobe Illustrator. I purchased a 100 watt CO2 laser a sometime back, and it has taken me a while to get it to perform the way I want.

This wine tote is my latest project. Not as perfect as I'd like, but like I said, there is bit of a learning curve with a laser cutter.

 

Edited January 30, 2018 by LatigoAmigo

[HaloJones]

14 hours ago, LatigoAmigo said:

Like HaloJones, I too am a hobbyist and "my knife work is poor as is my drawing / tracing" so I have to depend on software, in this case Adobe Illustrator. I purchased a 100 watt CO2 laser a sometime back, and it has taken me a while to get it to perform the way I want.

This wine tote is my latest project. Not as perfect as I'd like, but like I said, there is bit of a learning curve with a laser cutter.

 

Very nice, can I ask what laser cutter you have?

the learning curve on the software is not so much of a concern for me, as I have dabbled with it in the past 

also do you have a ventilation system for the cutter? 

[LatigoAmigo]

It is a used "homemade" laser cutter that I found on Craigslist. It was made with parts from LightObject in Sacramento, CA, so it is no particular brand. A ventilation system is a necessity. 

[TomG]

On 1/30/2018 at 7:04 AM, koreric75 said:

Hey TomG, 
What kind of cutter are you using?  Did you have a problem with the blue tape peeling of the leather at all?  I've used scotch tape and no problems.  Since my last video i've started using thing plastic sheets i bought for mold making, i spray one side down with repositioning adhesive then stick my leather to that and then stick that to the mat.  It seems to help having a little more solid backing for cutting and i don't trash the cricut mats with the flesh from the leather.

This is a 24" US Robotics Laserpoint 1.

The blue tape is great for all kinds of stuff.  I've never had it leave any residue either.
The only problem I've ever had using it on leather is if I apply it to the flesh side to say, keep antiquing off the back, when I pull i off it really fluffs up the flesh side fibers on a lot of pieces.

I also am using a thin plastic sheet with the spray adhesive.  But since the cutter uses a pretty good amount of force as it cuts and the vinyl cutter is designed for the vinyl to drape over the cutting bed, the leather tends to peel loose unless it's taped down.
and cut Sloooooooooowwwwwwww